Smoke treating means



March 27, 1934. i y H MP 1,952,735

SMOKE TREATING MEANS Filed Feb. 24, 1953 INVENTOR.

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4 ATTORN Y Patented Mar. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE '1 Claims.

This invention relates to means for treating tobacco smoke, and moreparticularly to means for mentholating such smoke.

Mentholated cigarettes, now extensively used,

are open to the objection that a portion of the menthol therein isburned and a large portion of the beneficial and pleasant properties ofthe menthol are thus lost. Additionally, the smoker is deprived of hisown particular brand of tobacco. .In order'to overcomethese objections,it has heretofore been proposed to provide a holder adapted to receivethe end of a cigar or cigarette to be smoked, the holder having anannular chamber in the rear thereof for receiving menthol crystals,peppermint, etc. Numerous holes are-provided in the walls of the chamberto permit, smoke to be drawn through the bed of crystals. This holderhas proven unsatisfactory since it is .expensive to manufacture and thecapacity of the chamber is restricted by the convenient size of theholder, thus making it extremely difiicult to fill the same with thedesired crystals and decreasing the duration of beneficial use.Furthermore, the dimensions of the holder must not only closely conformto the various sizes of articles to be smoked, but requires a speciallymade secondary holder with which its dimensions must conform exactly.

In order to overcome the above objections, it

has also been heretofore proposed to provide a round pellet comprisingmenthol crystals imbedded in an inert binder, the pellet or pelletsbeing positioned in an enlarged chamber formed in the smoke passage of aspecially designed holder or retained in the smoke passage by means of ametallic holder. These pellets are subject to the objection that only asmall portion of the expensive menthol crystals are available to treatthe smoke with the result that the pellets must be of unusually largesize to be eifective and quickly lose their strength. The firstcigarette to be smoked is thus strongly mentholated while the second onesmoked is not sufliciently treated. If larger pellets are used to avoidthis, the smoke is too strongly mentholated when first used.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide smoke treatingmeans which will overcome the above difiiculties and objections. Otherobjects and advantages will appear more fully hereinafter in the detaildescription of the invention which is to be read in connection with theattached drawing illustrating two embodiments of the invention, andwherein:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating one embodiment; and1 Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating anotherembodiment of the invention.

Referring to Fig. 1, the novel smoke treating means comprises a holderfor a cigarette 3, or a cigar, which is constituted by a tapered portion4, and a mouthpiece 5. Preferably, portion 4 is formed of paper or otherfibrous material while mouthpiece 5 is formed of rubber, amber, etc.

Positioned within the tapered portion of the holder is a casing,container or capsule constituted by two telescoping members 6 and 7, thesmaller diameter member 7 being positioned adjacent the mouthpiece 5 butpreferably at a small distance therefrom. The opposite ends of casing 6,

7 are provided with openings 8 which are substantially in alignment, andwithin the casing is a smoke treating substance, such as mentholcrystals 9. The casing is preferably formed of gelatin and, if desired,the telescoping parts thereof may be dipped in a solution of 50% mentholand 50% alcohol.

Prior to inserting the casing in the tapered portion of the holder, theformer is preferably moistened and, when moved to a position such thatthe interior diameter of the tapered portion 30 4 is equal to theexterior diameter of the larger portion 6' of said casing, pressure maybe applied to the outer surface of portion 4 in the plane of the casingwhereby the latter is caused to adhere to the inner tapered wall and beretained in position. If desired, the casing may be positioned in thetaperedportion 4 at a short'distance from the outer end of mouthpiece 5.Any liquid nico=- tine will thus be absorbed by the fibrous walls of thetapered portion 4 and will not flow into the mouthpiece. I

When smoke is drawn from the cigarette, it passes through the forwardopening 8 through the bed of crystals, through the rear opening in thecasing and through the smoke passage in the mouthpiece, whereby saidsmoke is mentholated without burning of the menthol. Moreover, the useris enabled to employ his own favorite brand of tobacco, the taste forwhich he has acquired by habit. The casing is readily filled withmenthol crystals and the two pieces of said casing may be easilytelescoped to form a container, the crystals being somewhat larger thanthe openings in the ends of the casing. The latter should not beentirely filled with crystals since, as the smoke passes over thecrystals, nicotine therefrom will adhere to them and, when the crystalsbecome sufllciently coated, it is only necessary to shake the holderslightly to rearrange the crystals therein so that the next smoke willbe mentholated to substantially the same strength as the first, and ithas been found, in actual use, that substantially the same strength ismaintained. When the desired treatment of smoke is 5 no longer obtained,a small rod may be forced through the mouth end of the holder todislodge the adhering casing from tapered portion 4, and

a new casing can be quickly inserted therein or,

if desired, the tapered paper portion may be discarded with the usedcasing.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 2, the telescopicgelatin casing 10 is provided at its opposite ends with smallprotuberances 11, the latter being adapted to fit in the bore of thesmoke passage provided in the holder, such as a pipe for example. Itwill be noted that no enlargement of the diameter of the bore isrequired although the enlarged portion of the latter may have to belengthened. The protuberances 11 maintain the openings in alignment withthe smoke passages in the mouthpiece and bowl of the pipe or cigaretteholder. This arrangement, however, does not prevent the passage ofliquid nicotine into the mouthpiece.

While two embodiments of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed in the accompanying drawing, it is to be expressely understoodthat the drawing is forv purpose of illustration only and is notdesigned as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference beinghad to the appended claims for this purpose.

' What is claimed is:

1. A cigarette holder having a bore therethrough, a telescopic gelatincasing having aligned openings-in the opposite ends thereof andpositioned in the bore, and loose menthol crystals i said casing.

2. A cigarette holder having a bore, a portion of said bore beingtapered, a gelatin casing having openings in the ends thereof positionedin the tapered portion of the bore, said casing having adhesiveengagement with the walls of the bore, and menthol crystals in saidcasing.

3. A smoke treating capsule comprising a telescopic gelatin casinghaving openings in the op posite ends thereof, said casing beingimpregnated with menthol, and menthol crystals in said casing.

4. A smoke treating capsule for. tobacco comprising a gelatin capsulehaving openings in the opposite ends thereof, and loose menthol crystalsin said casing partially filling the latter.

5. A holder for tobacco having a bore therethrough, a gelatin capsuleadapted to be positioned in the bore at a substantial distance from thetobacco, and menthol crystals in said capsule, the latter having smokepassages in the walls thereof and being partly filled with saidcrystals.

6. A holder for tobacco having a stem with a bore therethrough. acontainer adapted to be positioned in said holder and to havesubstantially permanent engagement with the walls thereof when the sameis subjected to the heat of the smoke drawn through said stem, saidcontainer having openings in the walls thereof for the passage of smoketherethrough, and menthol crystals in said container for treating thesmoke.

7. A holder for tobacco having a bore therethrough for the passage ofsmoke, a capsule posi- ARNOLD THOMPSON.

